Token 2049: Buterin Speaks On Adoption, Gaming & Blockchain

Token 2049: Buterin Speaks On Adoption, Gaming & Blockchain

The co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin says that blockchain applications outside of finance face more difficulty gaining traction as the main added value that they offer is decentralisation. Buterin made his remarks during a speed at the Hong Kong crypto conference/event Token 2049 on 13th March.

Buterin began by noting that finance is “realistically the first blockchain [application] that will probably achieve wide scale adoption.” Although he has said in the past that he is a massive fan of other applications.

“The problem is that decentralization is basically their value add. With finance you’re competing with banks that take five days to do something interesting. With anything that’s not financial, chances are there is some internet thing that does what you want, that’s just centralized. So it’s a bit of a harder pitch.”

Using examples of when blockchain could help the world beyond the finance sector, Buterin discussed digital identity, reputation and digital certificates. All of which have use cases that aren’t necessarily confined to the use of cryptocurrencies or the financial markets.

When talking about the current state of adoption, when it comes to the blockchain, Buterin appealed to the attendees of the Hong Kong conference to identify real-world applications that are developing “not just in theory, but on the ground.”

When discussing gaming, Buterin said that even though there are many people that are committed to blockchain innovation form their conviction, it can tackle real-world problems with a good social impact, entertainment use cases like gaming are precious areas where technology can draw in high numbers of early adopters.

Speaking on his personal commitments, Buterin highlighted decentralised application which allows several actors to share and work together on applications that are based on an underlying,